Bolesław II the Bold's expedition to Kiev (1076–1077)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bolesław II the Bold's expedition to Kiev (1076–1077)
Part of Polish-Russian Wars

Bolesław II the Bold
Date1076–1077[a]
Location
Kiev, Kievan Rus
Result Polish victory
Territorial
changes		 Temporary occupation of Kiev by Polish forces, Ruthenians relinquish the Cherven Cities conquered by Bolesław in 1069.[1]
Belligerents
Kingdom of Poland
Commanders and leaders
Bolesław II the Bold
Mikołaj of Zębocin
Iziaslav I of Kiev		 Vsevolod I of Kiev
Strength
Unknown Unknown

Bolesław II the Bold's expedition to Kiev (1076–1077)[b] was a military expedition under the command of Polish King Bolesław II to Kievan Rus' in order to install Prince Iziaslav I on the Kievan throne after the death of Sviatoslav II of Kiev. Polish forces captured the Rus' capital and put Iziaslav on the throne, but due to growing tensions in the country, they had to withdraw after a short occupation.

Background[edit]

In 1073, Iziaslav, who had been exiled from Kiev, surrendered Rus' as a fief of St. Peter church, so in 1075 the Pope Gregory VII demanded that Bolesław should give him armed assistance.[2][3] King Bolesław II the Bold of Poland, after spending the winter and early spring at home with a bolstered army comprising both cavalry and infantry, swiftly marched towards Kievan Rus', nearing the capital Kiev, and laid siege to it.[4]: 134 [5][6][7][8]

Capture of Kiev[edit]

The Ruthenian defenders of the city frequently launched attacks into the king's camp, leading to skirmishes that escalated tensions between both sides.[4]: 134  The royal army, eager to aid their comrades, often found itself on the brink of a decisive battle against the Ruthenian forces, who frequently repelled them with long-range arrow fire.[4]: 134  As the city began to suffer from hunger and enemy sorties diminished, King Bolesław moved his camp closer to the city to intensify pressure.[4]: 134  Upon learning from deserters about the worsening hunger among the city's inhabitants and soldiers, the king took measures to blockade all roads, preventing any deliveries to the besieged.[4]: 135  Known for his adaptability and leadership, King Bolesław personally attended to even minor matters, ensuring diligence and duty among his soldiers through constant inspection, admonishment, and punishment of negligence.[4]: 135 [9]

The expansive plains and fields surrounding Kiev, which stretched beyond the city, facilitated the king's strategy, allowing for easy surveillance of incoming deliveries. Despite the city's considerable size and numerous suburbs, its inadequate fortifications and weary defenders made it vulnerable to conquest, especially given the relentless vigilance of the Polish forces.[4]: 135  This vigilance resulted in a devastating famine within the city, compounded by a severe epidemic that spared neither the wealthy nor the knights.[4]: 135 

Szczerbiec, the sword of Bolesław II

Fearful of falling into the hands of Bolesław and his army, the people of Kiev sent envoys to negotiate surrender, seeking mercy amidst their suffering.[4]: 135  Responding to the envoys' request for clemency, King Boleslaw gently rebuked them for prolonging their defense despite dire circumstances, promising leniency and kindness to all after the city surrendered.[10][8] When news of the king's promise reached Kiev, its inhabitants wasted no time and surrendered the city on the same day. Bolesław, orchestrating a triumphant entry reminiscent of his great-grandfather's, Polish king Bolesław I the Brave, symbolically marked his victory by striking the Golden Gate with his sword, signifying the city's submission.[4]: 135 [11][6][7][10]

Rus' as Polish tributary[edit]

Welcomed with great honors by the city's inhabitants, King Bolesław fulfilled his promise, demonstrating kindness to all and ensuring the protection of their homes, properties, and persons by ordering severe punishment for any transgressors among his soldiers.[4]: 135  This act of mercy endeared him to the people of Kiev, who voluntarily offered generous gifts, which the king distributed among his soldiers, especially those who had displayed valor in battle, siege warfare, or enemy raids. With the conquest of Kiev, Bolesław solidified his rule over Rus', establishing tributes and entrusting governance to his maternal relative, Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev.[5][7][12]

Aftermath[edit]

In the aftermath of the unjust murder of his son Sviatoslav II of Kiev, the prince of Chernigov, by his subjects, and the subsequent burial in the Church of the Holy Savior, the princely throne of Principality of Novgorod passed to Iziaslav's son Sviatopolk II of Kiev.[4]: 135 [2][8][3] Iziaslav's other sons, Vladimir and Yaropolk Iziaslavich, assumed rule in Principality of Smolensk and Vyshhorod, respectively, marking a new era in the governance of these territories.[12][5][2][8]

Return to the country[edit]

Bolesław II the Bold

During the winter encampment in Kiev, the courage of the entire Polish army waned, and discipline slackened.[3][13] The soldiers, including King Bolesław and most of the knights, succumbed to a decline fueled by indulgence in lavish living, feasting, excessive drinking, and romantic entanglements.[3][13] This decline overshadowed the benefits of victory, and the spoils of war brought more peril than prosperity. Kiev boasted abundant provisions, catering to every indulgence with ample supplies of meat, milk, fish, and grains.[4]: 136  The local women, tall and captivating with their dark hair, entranced both the king and the knights, who, already intoxicated by their triumphs and opulence, surrendered themselves to hedonistic pursuits.[4]: 136 

King Bolesław, intoxicated by his military successes and the accolades that flowed from them, fell into unbridled hubris, distancing himself from those seeking his audience and issuing orders through intermediaries.[3] His descent into depravity included engaging in the reprehensible sin of sodomy, reflecting the promiscuous customs of the Rus'.[3] His military conquests, tainted by the mistakes of those he defeated, brought shame not only on himself, but also on his descendants and the kingdom.[4]: 137 [2] Contempt for the king spread first among his own subjects, the Poles, and then among the Rus, despite their imitation of debauched customs. Even the knights, once devoted to the king, became disappointed.[3][13]

God's wrath seemed to descend upon the Poles as the wives, sisters and daughters of knights, especially those indulging in excesses in Kiev, bemoaned the prolonged absence of their husbands.[14]: 70  [6][9] They felt abandoned, deprived of comforts and offspring, as their husbands' sinful behavior prevented them from acting wisely.[14]: 70  [9] Rumors circulated about the fate of their husbands - death, victims of battles or infidelity - which led some of them to romance their servants, others were forcibly entrapped, and still others succumbed to temptation and deception.[4]: 137 [6][12][2][15][9]

As tales of the immoral conduct of Polish women reached the king's camp, exacerbated by exaggerated reports from messengers, fear and suspicion fueled the spread of rumors.[5][3][13] Outraged and incensed, the army erupted in fury, with soldiers traversing from tent to tent to voice their grievances.[13] Some, consumed by rage, fled to Poland without the king's knowledge or consent, followed by others seeking to avenge perceived wrongs against their wives and servants.[6][5][2][9][13] Neither the king's admonishments nor his flattery could halt their exodus, which continued unabated, almost daily, under the cover of night, leaving King Bolesław stranded in hostile territory.[6][5][12][15]

Punishment of unfaithful wives[edit]

See also: Murder of Stanislaus of Szczepanów

The disgraceful conduct of their wives prompted the Polish knights to return home, where they found themselves embroiled in a new conflict with their servants.[4]: 138  The servants, aware of the harsh penalties awaiting them from their masters for their actions, not only took up arms but also, aided by women who had committed adultery with them, seized weapons and barricaded the gates, refusing entry to their masters. When the masters tried to force their way in, clashes erupted between them.[4]: 138  The masters, barely victorious at the cost of their own losses, executed them amidst various tortures along with their adulterous wives, especially those who voluntarily engaged in relationships with servants. Thus, by exacting revenge on their wives and adulterous servants and appeasing their justified anger, they put an end to the debauchery.[15]

Punishment of unfaithful wifes by Bolesław

Meanwhile, King Bolesław's fierce wrath was directed not only against the women, some of whom had remained faithful and others whose transgressions were minor, but also against the husbands themselves.[14]: 72  Upon returning to Poland from Rus' with depleted troops, he seethed with anger and indignation, lamenting that his own knights, whom he had generously rewarded, had abandoned him in enemy territory, exposing him to danger from foes.[14]: 72  [4]: 139  He lamented that the flight of the knights had left him vulnerable to death or dishonorable captivity, and only divine mercy had spared him.[14]: 72  Consequently, he ordered the knights who initiated the flight to be arrested and executed, while others who followed them were either imprisoned or stripped of their possessions.[4]: 139 [9][3]

Taking away the children born to the women with the servants, whom their husbands had previously spared, as a means of avenging the lewd acts they had committed, he ordered puppies to be placed against their chests.[6] He argued that women who had forsaken good morals and defiled their marital beds by consorting with servants while their husbands were at war were not worthy to nurture human offspring with their milk but with puppies.[4]: 139 [6] In his view, they deserved death and all manner of ignominious punishments.[14]: 72  Bolesław II, remained unaffected by the shame and suffering of the women compelled to breastfeed puppies attached to their chests. The knights, who had emerged unscathed even from battles with enemy hordes, upon returning home, endured numerous hardships from their own wives and servants.[14]: 72  [4]: 139 

Conflict of Bolesław with Stanislaus

The king also treated them with severity, surpassing even that shown by enemies.[4]: 139  In all this, it seemed even more shameful that King Bolesław not only persisted in his meanness, which he indulged in in Rus', but even intensified it.[2][8][3] However, among the multitude of clergy and laity in Poland, no one dared to admonish the king for his cruelty. Everyone feared his severity. As a result, uninhibited by any rebuke, the king plunged further and further into his shameful transgressions and all the other sins that brought terrible misfortunes and calamities to his subjects.[9][3] Witnessing and realizing this, Bishop Stanislaus of Szczepanów was deeply saddened, and as a compassionate bishop he was deeply concerned for his king, which gave rise to their dispute which ended in Stanislaus' tragic death.[14]: 72–73  [6][5][12][2][15][8]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The exact date of Bolesław's expedition remains a dispute among historians, although it is certain that it did not occur until after Bolesław's coronation in 1076. It is therefore presumed that it most likely took place in late 1076/1077.
  2. ^ Wyprawa Bolesława II Szczodrego na Kijów (1076-1077)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Długosz, Jan (1112–1116). Roczniki czyli kroniki sławnego królestwa Polskiego, vol III&IV (PDF). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. p. 137. ISBN 978-83-01-16069-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Bolesław II Szczodry albo Śmiały (1042 - 2/3 IV 1082)". historia.interia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Bolesław Śmiały i jego czarna legenda". histmag.org. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Długosz, Jan (2009). Roczniki czyli kroniki sławnego królestwa Polskiego (PDF) (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. ISBN 978-83-01-16069-2.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Bolesław Szczodry (książę i król Polski 1058-1081/1082)". TwojaHistoria.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Jak król Bolesław niewierne żony ukarał". CiekawostkiHistoryczne.pl (in Polish). 2020-05-25. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  7. ^ a b c "Bolesław Śmiały (Szczodry). Król, który powrócił do mocarstwowej polityki Chrobrego | HISTORIA.org.pl - historia, kultura, muzea, matura, rekonstrukcje i recenzje historyczne". HISTORIA.org.pl (in Polish). 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Bolesław II Szczodry". www.polskatradycja.pl. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Bolesław II Szczodry - ile wiadomo o rządach trzeciego króla Polski?". Focus.pl (in Polish). 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  10. ^ a b Marcin Biborski, Janust Stępiński, Grzegorz Żabiński. Szczerbiec (The Jagged Sword) – The Coronation Sword of the Kings of Poland.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Bolesław II Szczodry (Śmiały) - POCZET.COM". www.poczet.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Bolesław II Śmiały". dzieje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Bolesław Śmiały (Szczodry): Genealogia Polska ® LLC / Genealogy for free". genpol.us. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Kadłubek, Wincenty (2008). Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae (PDF). Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich - Wydawnictwo. ISBN 978-83-04-04969-7.
  15. ^ a b c d Historykon.net. "Bolesław II Szczodry (Śmiały)".

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bolesław_II_the_Bold%27s_expedition_to_Kiev_(1076–1077)&oldid=1213182353"